before president obama and his team are demanding that they allow bush era tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of americans expire. >> there's no way we can govern this country with those low rates in place for future generations. those rates have to go up. >> reporter: but republicans have drawn a line in the sand in raising tax rates. instead, signaling they're open to raising revenue by limiting the tax code. it's a major sticking point. holding up a deal. >> right now, i'd say we're nowhere. >> reporter: president obama is looking for $1.6 trillion in new tax revenue over ten years. speaker boehner is offering half of that. there's $600 billion. the speaker says that's not enough. although he hasn't outlined what he thinks should be cut. if they can't avoid the fiscal cliff, it means on january 1st, every american will pay more income tax, between 2,000 to $2,200 for the average family. $500 billion in automatic spending cuts will go into effect. half of that at the pentagon. the other half coming in transportation, food safety and research. economists feel if washington can't strike a